ÖEHV Exec­u­tive Board draws posi­tive conclu­sions

Immediately after taking office, the newly elected Executive Board tackled many issues and set about delivering on its promises.

The youth leagues were brought back under the ÖEHV umbrella and have since been organised and managed directly by the ÖEHV. The new roster regulation also delivered on another promise made upon taking office. Since the 2022/2023 season, it has redefined the number of domestic players who must be listed on the game sheet. Since then, twelve players eligible for selection to the Austrian national team must be listed, at least two of whom must be in the U24 age group. This regulation is evaluated jointly with the league every two years, with the shared aim of further increasing the number of domestic players on the game sheet.

Another issue that had been hotly debated for many years has also been implemented – a new training compensation system. AKES was initiated at the request of the clubs in order to develop and implement a fair solution for compensating the training of key players. AKES was developed together with representatives of the ÖEHV, the regional associations, the win2day ICE Hockey League and the ALPS Hockey League, and forms part of the cooperation agreement between the federation and the league.

In September 2022, the OTT platform LIVE.eishockey.at was launched, through which all games from the leagues organised by the ÖEHV in women’s, para and men’s ice hockey, as well as youth hockey, have since been streamed live. This is supplemented by all national team games on home ice that are not broadcast on free-to-air television. The partnership with RED+ has just marked the next step in the platform’s continued development.

In spring 2022, win2day, the Austrian Lotteries’ online gaming site, joined as main sponsor and has since supported women, para and men equally. For the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey Women´s World Championship Division IA in Klagenfurt last April, win2day also secured a comprehensive sponsorship package and became the World Championship’s main sponsor.

In 2023, further partners joined, including high-performance energy drink NOCCO and Napoleon, the specialist in gas and charcoal barbecues, outdoor kitchens and grilling accessories. The long-standing partnership with equipment supplier Warrior was also extended.

On the sporting side, the national teams generated considerable attention and record-high media value. The men’s World Championship warm-up games were already almost, and in some cases completely, sold out, such as the game against Germany in Zell am See and the highlight against Canada in Vienna before a record crowd of more than 7.000 fans.

Through cooperation between the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation, the win2day ICE Hockey League and win2day, the win2day Austrian Women´s Hockey League will begin play in the 2024/2025 season. The European Women´s Hockey League is also set to become more professional, creating a sustainable sporting foundation. This sends a clear signal in women’s ice hockey and sees intensive work being carried out to take the next steps towards professionalisation.

Nevertheless, cuts in all areas recently became necessary because, despite some successes in sponsorship, this area has fallen short of expectations and targets, not least due to the difficult economic situation caused by the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis.

In addition, payments of funding and bonuses, such as those from the IIHF for 10th place at the 2024 World Championship, will in some cases not be made for several months. In order to operate sustainably over the coming months and years, it has been decided on the sporting side to cancel the summer camps of all youth national teams, as well as all further U14 and U15 camps for the coming season.

The aim is to hold all breaks, the summer camps and, where possible, additional camps in all youth categories again as soon as possible.

On the other hand, there are a number of assets, such as property and shares, which the federation handles carefully and responsibly so that these reserves not only provide security, but above all work for the federation and generate income.

In September 2023, ÖEHV Vice-President Yasmin Stepina was elected to the board of the Austrian Olympic Committee. This ensured that ice hockey, one of Austria’s most traditional and popular sports, is once again represented as a member of the ÖOC, as it has been in the past.

The reforms mentioned above, through the new roster regulation and AKES, are intended to strengthen domestic players and give them more playing opportunities. In goal, the current situation is good with David Kickert, David Madlener and Thomas Höneckl. However, too few young talents are coming through behind them.

A naturalisation procedure is pending for Atte Tolvanen, the goalkeeper of champions Red Bull Salzburg. Tolvanen was not on the naturalisation list submitted to the Council of Ministers at its most recent meeting, meaning that, as things stand, he is not an Austrian citizen and is therefore not an option for the national team with regard to the upcoming Olympic qualification. Naturalisation is expected to take place in autumn 2024.

Behind the scenes, work is under way on medium- and long-term concepts to ensure that, in a few years’ time, more goalkeepers can once again be developed who are established as their respective clubs’ first-choice netminders.

Goals for the coming period

The primary objective is initially to once again organise all team camps in the youth sector and reactivate the U14 and U15 teams.

In addition, communication within Austrian ice hockey with all stakeholders, above all the regional associations and clubs, is to be further intensified and improved in order to strengthen and unite our sport.

Closer cooperation between the ÖEHV and the win2day ICE Hockey League is therefore also planned in order to make ice hockey even more visible, attract more and, above all, new spectators, and increase overall revenue.

The “Rot-Weiß-Rote Faden”, the ÖEHV’s new training concept, was launched at the beginning of the year. Its focal points include the professionalisation of coach education and the implementation of a Head of Goalkeeper-Development.

Since this spring, para ice hockey has been a key component of coach education for obtaining the B licence. The next step is now the appointment of a Head of Goalkeeper-Development in order to be well positioned in the goaltending sector in the medium and long term.

In 2021, the Ö Eishockey-Liga was introduced, in response to a long-standing request, as the third-highest league in domestic men’s ice hockey. After three seasons, it has become very popular and will begin its fourth season in the autumn.